Show L G E RAL BROWN FEATURES duke ti mccale ceale private detective ti 11 in the th murder ol of curt vallain coura who was about to marry veronica BI clow heiress to abir thirty ty million dollar dollars she Is the principal suspect biscaio abicca I 1 questions members ol of the family and ob jains important clues uncovering a deep plot to keep control of 0 tho the great fortune in the he family faintly through a deal with val laine ourt mccali decides that sharl shari lynn Vallain courts former wife holds hold the key to the puzzle lie hurries to net het part spart ment only to find that she has been hot I 1 dead on looking around lie he n notices 0 cices tices that a picture la is missing rom frolli th the e apartment ament lie fie later wall nail 0 of her apar to vero veronica about her love tor for vallain court CHAPTER R XIV nut but how can I 1 I 1 bo be sure its the emptiness of lost love its me more re uko like oh sile she broko broke off burying her head jn her arms arma 1 I dont know 1 I I 1 think I 1 understand he said quietly it hits you sort or of in the stomach instead ofin of in tho the heart yes yos yes that 0 it but she grimaced as as though the thought so stated was a trifle vulgar she brushed a tear from the corner of herene he reye about the scrap of letter you dounda a letter 46 to curt yes that I 1 was sure it was waa from vicky ashes always been so tunny funny about curt her attitude attl tudo seemed to be that because she had known him first she had priority rights over him something like that 1 was shattered by that noto note end and what it implied and when I 1 accused her she was so hard bard in spite of her denial in a foolish moment moitt 4 1 gave it to aunt addy I 1 was wag so upset 01 1 I know that lie ho said lie ile hesitated not sure whether to go on then decided to risk her shock at what he chehad had to say it is crue cruel 1 perhaps to tell yo you now he began but nce necessary essary we much time the inquest la tha day after tomor rowand oil oh but do im able to stand anything after she shuddered after this afternoon yo you u see goe he ba said bluntly the thing you jou suspected the plot to gain control of your inheritance was waa real 1 I it was a diabolical plot plo tall all were in it i lie he expected her to cry out or to huddle away from him ile he was nearly bowled over himself when she almost laughed saying nut but nono youre wrong mr mccale oh I 1 dont mean about the plot youre wrong in thinking I 1 know about it I 1 was wag so BO horriet horr lne ca well 1 I went first to chris end you went to io chris storm A sign signal bashed through his mind ile ha clamped tits his teeth together hard yes ile ho was for furious lous of 0 cou course arse ali he 1 wanted to have ave it out with curt then ahen and the there but I 1 persuaded him not ot to I 1 said it was my job and that I 1 would do it andali An and dald did you yav 4 yes alyis I 1 went kent right to curt be tore the rehearsal the day before before he died but butyok you pee aw T I 1 was wrong g in one thing curt confessed to the original plot That was true enough but jl but what macales Mc Caloa Cales mind was working furiously conjuring u up p all kinds kind of absurd visions ile ho pulled himself up tip abruptly ay ryon see she carefully a tremor in her voice curt loved me ile he really did oh I 1 know hed been a hellion all right lie ile told abid me a great deal about himself that day about his past about sharl shari lynn but for once it was the real thing with him ile he could hardly understand it himself but there it was wai ile he was truly in love for tho the first time in hla his lle life ile he was going to turn ills hla b back ack on them all wo we were going gong to he be happy or er there anything they could have done after we were married 10 iliad had he told them ills his voice was soft insistent 1101 oh no I 1 think ho he realized the danger because someone was wag watching him you mean yes lie he told me wed have to be careful right up to the hour of the wadding ile ho joked about it a lot because he considered it tunny funny ile he said set a thief to critch a th thief lef 1 or when thieves tall out things like that ile ho supposed they were suspicious auspicious because hed been seen with sharl shari lynn tho the papers had got hold of it you know he know who was follow fellow ing him about did he siy say whether it was a man oi or woman at an attempt on macales Mc cales life li c no ile he said I 1 to worry about it it that was all she be began gaw i ho to cry cry softly ilc he helped her out and paid th the driver ile he speak until th the taxi had driven off that afternoon the one before yesterday when you and curt came into the living room he lashed flashed you a signal with his eyes you noticed that yes what did it mean 1 I it meant cant that ever everything y g W was all U di right zat that hed destroyed destroy c e everything v er y th n g I 1 his 4 letters his associations everything ery thing that had bad tied him to the pa pasti i ot it was as if I 1 lie he sald her us as it if lie he said look darling too past Is all finished im clean mccaa winked blinked his eyes cleared his throat all right ho he said then im not going in with you things to do lots of them chin up now ill see sec you tomorrow goodnight good night goodnight good night sho she made an attempt at a smile and thank you of one thing lie he was sure curt Vallain court had really loved veronica bigelow gelow Bl start with that tact fact ile ho had burned his bridges care fully and conscientiously including sharl shari lynn ile he thought so funny what love will do tor for a guy but ho he must have been aware of 0 1 his antagonists of their sa it if what he intended doing beci became me known ile he was certain that lie he know knew of his danger lie he had had woven bov ills his spell with the blackest of arts and lind had been caught at it t that was his undoing lie he must have been conscious of playing a long caunce those last few days but ho he went to hla his death blithely all the same eve even n welcoming it in the knowledge that iome something thing fine had find happened to him that had never happened before lie he had been betrayed however by hope mccale was waa silently deriding the philosophizing ho he had been indulging in when he came abreast of his own doorway just when it was that the first warning came he afterwards recall ile he had just looked up to see the lights U of f his office gleaming faintly ile he was lie ho hear ann scream only a few feet acet from the doorstop doorstep when it came that intuitive message ham from his nerves his glands call tt it what you will lt maches up out of the vastness of our primeval beginnings beginning to warnus warn us it gripped him now thrusting ley icy claws down into hla his diaphragm lie ho started to turn then thought better belter 0 of it then he began to run the report come came like a firecracker hard by on his right he reheard heard the sound ot of running feet ile ho felt a ghastly blow near his heart ile he reeled stopped in his tracks A low w escaped alls is ups lips ills his knees buckled as a pain shot through hla his side ile he climbed up tho the steps somehow w ile ho thought oh god this Is how curt vol val laina ourt died iwonder what went through his mind crawling up those endless stairs after a thousand years the door swung kopea open ann stood there she seemed far away in the dark he fie forced a smile Il hello lello he said conscious ot of slobbering slob bering youre tight she said A narrow escape F from aront death no ills his own voice sounded different and from way back somewhere 1 I dont drink you know that ive been held up yenh Ye ahall all the way home ill bet what have you done with veronica bigelow Bl gelow dont tell me youre jealous of her ile he swayed hardly aware of this insane stalling it must havo have been then that she saw pain glaze his eyes bare his teeth bho moved forward sudden terror striking tier her dukel she gasped ills legs gave wily way again slowly he slid to his knees crouching there ills his face twitched a moment and he made a mumbling bolso before he he pitched forward lie he hear anns scream once during the night he became conscious it was like being dragged up tip into the light from rom the depth and darkness of a great well lie he acl fou a breath of cool air and opened his eyes lie he realized his throat was parched lie he asked tor for water bond ond a phantom floated into view it was ann she held a glass of water tor for him her eyes lie ho noticed were fere big and filled with love for him and fear for or him too ann he thought im sick and ashes worried about me she loves me ma and sapa worried great inc when the black curtain ot of morphia lifted again it was another day the room was light the rrt first thing he saw was big black letters they formed slowly out of the mist that still clouded his vision some 1 f what they read DETECTIVE SHOT ills his mind struggled with this and he made a slight motion with his head A golden blonde blond e an gel leaned over and kissed him lightly on the brow where nm am I 1 ile he mouthed con fused thoughts why darling this Is ann you know where you arc uh huh fuzziness began to leave the edges of ills his brain this Is heaven do that again angel ile ho started to put an arm about her pain soared scared his shoulder lie he gro groaned abed a bit coming wide awake behave yourself ann said youre in no condition to become amorous good lord did you see that she flung tiro the mopping paper P or on the floor the papers have you nt at deaths door here lot let me lift you up a little she propped a pillow behind him and sat down there were deep shadows under her eyes have you been here all night ho he asked sure why not why rocky make you go 90 home do you think id leave you to tho the tender mercies of that behemoth every time you asked tor for a drink he reached for the bottle of scotch she scowled just then the door opened and rocky stuck his head in lie he grinned granne d broadly on seeing mccale awake and sitting up doc preble Is here nurse lie he dropped a curtsey to ann Pre Preb blell lel mccale howled the coroners coron coro nerl crl what is this im not dead or nm am I 1 t ann chuckled she did not look too tired or harassed now that she smiled when you fell in the doorway last night you looked pretty dead to me I 1 fainted rocky had the two of us in his hands of 01 course he simply let me lie there with the door wide open I 1 unconscious long I 1 came to and stumbled up the stairs to find he had stretched you out on the domce desk too much like a corpse for me to think of anything else what with rocky beating his own brains out and cursing that someone had bumped ot off the boss I 1 dialed headquarters the homicide squad down to the last legman were here in three minutes flat preble was short and and past middle age and sported a goatee ile he hadtke had the typical medical mans all seeing eye lie he looked mccale over shrewdly examined the wound and reban caged itin it in short order do he said stay in bed fori for twenty tour four hours dont want you running a temperature youre a lucky guy the bullet was deflected by the cigarette coso case yo you u carry in your upper vest wasat was it a forty five undoubtedly from the nature of the tho wound it if it been for that cigarette case it would have ripped you wide open well mind what I 1 say now this girl needs some sleep lie he turned to AUP ann haium harum phed and went oft off giving rocky the stare of an anthropologist ignoring an interesting but ln in farlor specimen donlevy calls and talks A halt half hour later mccale was interrupted in the middle of exasperated resentment at the light diet ordered by the doctor nod and carried out to the letter by ann aim tho the telephone rang ann provokingly placing pine ing the bedside telephone out t of his reach and with a smug expression pres slon on tier her lace face went into the outer office to take the call that was veronica bigelow Bl gelow she said matter 1 I had the devil of a time before shed trust ino ine with the message ashes upset no end it seems th that at donlevy has arrested christopher storm when lost last night or early this morning ashes been trying to get the ever since I 1 suppose you suppose well I 1 1 I stuffed blotting paper in the telephone bell last night I 1 thought the ringing might disturb your resl reathe res the doctor sald said P god almighty De between ticen you and the doctor I 1 might as well be a corpse I 1 was nil all hopped up with morphine I 1 ile he turned himself around with a painful et ef fort now duke youre not to excite yourself your seU raise a temperature to hou hell with my temperature get donlevy on the wire obediently she called police nead quarters only to learn that the tha homicide man was on his way there at that very moment mccale patted her hand feeling ashamed of his irascibility lie he re signed himself to waiting tor for don levy in less than twenty minutes the lieutenant strode in in the wake of rocky the two of them so bit but so BO different bulked hugely in the doorway donlevy with a muttered greeting to mccale flung him sell self into a chair crevices nf fit fatigue and worry lined his face TO DE BE CONTINUED |